The eyes did not deceive. Karl-Anthony Towns did indeed drop weight.
Looking slimmer than ever at Monday’s Media Day, the Knicks center said he shed pounds during the summer to feel fresher and healthier.
“It’s good for my body, my knees,” Towns said. “And it keeps me young.”
Towns said he slims down every summer after adding mass during the season, which is against the grain since players often lose weight once training camp begins. The benefit is injury prevention and quickness, while pitfalls include reduced strength and power for battling in the paint.
Tim Duncan popularized weight loss for frontcourt players in his 30s, extending his career.
Towns didn’t reveal the specific numbers behind his summer weight loss. The 7-footer weighed 248 pounds last season, according to the Knicks website.
“I always lose a lot of the weight,” Towns said. “I put on a lot of weight for the season.”
But it never looked this dramatic.
“My wife thought I look good,” added Towns, who is also navigating stagnated contract-extension negotiations with the Knicks.
It was a landmark year for Towns, who turned 30 in November, won the NBA championship in June and married longtime girlfriend Jordyn Woods in August.
Along the way, Towns was rediscovered as a playmaking hub during the playoffs — a role that helped transform the Knicks from potential first-round busts in Atlanta to NBA champs. His average assists jumped 60 percent in the postseason, and the Knicks were an offensive juggernaut while winning 13 straight.
Coach Mike Brown confirmed that strategy will continue this regular season — with an expectation of an evolving offense.
“We started last season with an offense with him at the elbow but we just did different things when he caught the ball at the elbow and the action wasn’t always designed to go to him at the elbow,” Brown said. “And so we eventually evolved into [going more to KAT at the elbow] and we will go with that and evolve into other things throughout the course of [the] year based on where we are as a team.”
So the offense will change. Towns’ body already did.
“In today’s sports world, you always hear about strength and speed and quickness,” said Brown, who added that he hasn’t checked Towns’ weight or body fat percentage yet but was informed his center dropped weight. “So whatever his body needs to be to optimize those things, that’s what I have faith him and our performance staff will do for us.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
